San Diego County Water Authority seeks bay-delta solution that works

California needs a 21st century solution for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, the hub of the state’s water supply system. That solution must be feasible, reliable and affordable. It must be right-sized, and the state must secure firm financial commitments from those who have said they will pay for it.

The multibillion-dollar question is how best to attain that vision in the Bay Delta to sustainably meet the needs of water supply reliability and the ecosystem. It might seem like a distant problem for those of us in San Diego County, but our region draws about 20 percent of its water supply from the Bay-Delta, and we’ll be on the hook to pay for a substantial piece of any solution.

The fixes being debated range from keeping the status quo to building a twin-tunnels project that would carry water under the Bay Delta for 30 miles. The state of California, interest groups, water agencies, environmental organizations and others across the state are advancing their favorite alternatives, some of which take an integrated approach by linking Bay Delta investments with greater investments in local supplies, conservation and increased water storage. Earlier this month, the California Department of Water Resources issued an economic analysis of its preferred project: the $25 billion twin-tunnels project.

While it may be tempting to rush into supporting one project over another, it would be unwise to commit our region’s residents to pay for any proposed solution without diligent scrutiny. That’s why the Water Authority is taking a thoughtful and deliberate approach to ensuring that we have the information we need to make the right choice for our region. In recent months, we have invited proponents of several Bay Delta project alternatives to share their views with the Water Authority’s board of directors. Over the course of the next several months, our board will review the four major alternatives for fixing the Bay Delta to determine which one best achieves our goal of improved water-supply reliability from the Bay Delta at a cost our ratepayers can afford.

Each potential project is being assessed for water-supply reliability, ecosystem restoration and impacts on the environment, finance and funding, facilities, and governance, in accordance with policy principles and reliability objectives adopted by the board. We are committed to making sure that the selected solution is affordable, that beneficiaries make firm commitments to pay for the work, and that it creates meaningful environmental progress in the Bay Delta.

We seek regulatory certainty about water deliveries and financial certainty regarding our share of the project costs. We believe Bay Delta project costs should be allocated to stakeholders in proportion to the benefits they receive. And we want the strategy to account for plans and projects by Southern California’s water agencies to increase local supplies and reduce their reliance on the Bay Delta.

The financing issue is particularly significant for San Diego County residents. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has said it will pay for at least a quarter of the cost of a Bay Delta fix. As MWD’s largest customer, the Water Authority would be expected to pay for a large share of those costs — and that share could grow disproportionately larger if other MWD member agencies decide the price is too high and further reduce their MWD water purchases in favor of other sources.